thank you in advance
by dharkephoenyx
Summary: "It's like I came back in time to tell you thank you, you were as beautiful then as you are now.." AU Finchel through Finn's memory.


**A/N: A story inspired by a song. Starts of from now to the beginning with a lot of middle. Finn & Rachel with special appearances by Kurt & Artie friendships.. Puck, Mike, Tina, Santana and Quinn. Unbeta'd and rushed, forgive me please!**

**Disclaimer: Glee, Finn nor Rachel belong to me. Bummer dudes.**

* * *

_thank you in advance_

The heat is intense as he makes his way inside. He can hear the fire Chief in his earpiece trying to walk them through the house, and Gregson behind him, as they try to get to the bedroom where the man said his son was sleeping. There's a fallen beam blocking the hallway that's full of smoke but between the two of them they manage to break the beam apart with their axes, Gregson finding a fire extinguisher to help them down the hallway.

Finn takes three steps towards the boy's door but another beam falls and blocks Gregson behind him; he turns to help but more burning debris fall from above.

"Hudson! Go! I'll try and keep a path clear so we can get out!"

"Got it!"

The house is almost engulfed in flames and they have about seven minutes at most to get out safely, the other firefighters are still battling the blaze from several trucks outside. He gets to the boy's room, the fire hasn't gotten this far yet, but smoke still permeates the hallway; he kicks, once, twice before the door gives way. The boy is a teenager, about fifteen and he's sprawled unconscious on the floor, his second floor window too high for him to jump from. He fits a small mask over the boy's face and slings him over his shoulder.

"Gregson, I got the boy! How's my hallway coming?"

"_It's a no go, Huddy!_"

Crap.

He tries to pull up the blueprint of the house in his head, tuning out Gregson's chatter over the mic. The basement should have a high window, just about four feet above-ground and then there's the steep incline at the back of the house. But the first floor, and the way Gregson is still trying to fight through, is blocked by quickly spreading flames and burning debris.

"Try and get to the basement window Gregson, I'm gonna find a way there!" He shouts out.

He turns and looks at the wooden bookcase near him. It serves as a wall and should drop them into the kitchen below. He sets the boy down and hacks away at the burning wood; it gives way and he grabs the boy and jumps, grunting when he falls hard on his feet. He has to use the axe again at the floor of the kitchen that's almost gone and jumps through again. He sees the basement window, and can see two firefighters standing outside shouting at him to hurry.

A piece of the floor falls in front of him and fire singes the boy's pants, he has to stop to put that out. He gets to the window and thrusts the unconscious boy through then realizes too late his shoulders will be much too wide for him to push through.

Well, fuck.

Gregson rushes over and seems to realize the same thing with horror as more of the floor overhead gives away behind Finn, fire licking hungrily at the basement floor. His eyes turn back to Gregson outside, the other man screaming for help as the fire crept closer.

There's loud banging outside and the explosion from above shakes the foundation and throws him off his feet. Through the ringing in his ears he can hear the banging again but then he's pretty sure he hears singing before he slips into the darkness.

…

When he wakes up, it's with a sleeping little girl on his chest.

Ava has been fussy and miserable all day with a scratchy throat and a high fever, so he stays home to look after her. She didn't want to eat anything and refused to sleep anywhere except in his arms. He'd managed to coax her into taking some medicine with some cereal and had finally gotten her to sleep after watching the Princess and the Frog for about the millionth time.

The front door slams and Chris walks by dragging his bookbag behind him as he passes by the den.

"Hey Champ. Good day?" he calls out softly.

Chris stops and shrugs. "It was alright."

Finn frowns as his son shuffles away. He tries to shift Ava onto the couch below him and she starts to whimper in her sleep; her small hands clutching tightly to his shirt. He sighs and holds her closer to his chest, she was just like her mother when she was sick, a big baby.

He finds his son on the floor in the living room, bag tossed carelessly to the side as he sits in front of the TV, game controller in his hands. Chris was too much like him at times.

"What's wrong buddy?"

Chris lifts his small shoulders again, eyes glued to the TV screen. He shuffles over and sits behind him with Ava on his lap, she sneezes and sticks a thumb in her mouth then twists around, burying her face under his shoulder.

Her brother looks over his shoulder at them and tugs on her toes. "She's still sick?"

Finn nods.

Chris crawls over to his bag and pulls out a piece of paper that he puts on table in front of them. It's a drawing of what looks like should be him and his sister with _Get Well Ava_ scrawled over the top. Chris pats it and looks over to his sister again.

"This'll make her feel better."

Finn smiles and nudges Chris with his toe. "You're a good big brother, sport."

Chris grins cheekily. "Yea, I learned it all from Uncle Kurt."

"You're not going over there again." He growls back, his eyes twinkling merrily as Chris stuck his tongue out. The front door opens and Rachel calls out, stumbling over the bags and her feet as she tries to lock the door behind her.

"Finn?"

He nods over at his son to go help his mother, Ava was too comfortable laying atop him still. The little boy scampers up and rushes to the doorway to meet his mother, chattering happily as he helps her to bring the bags in.

Ava stirs atop him and yawns, stretching her little body in his arms. She twists around and covers her face as she sneezes into the blanket she always carried around. He looks down at her and smiles, touching her forehead with his lips, she was still too warm.

"Hey you two."

"Hi Mommy."

"How're you feeling princess?" Rachel asks, squeezing his shoulder as she sat on the arm of the sofa. She touches Ava's forehead and frowns, biting her lip as she glances at him.

"It's not so high, and she had cereal." He murmurs, his chin on Ava's mass of curls, eyes on his wife.

Rachel nods. "I'll go make some soup." She ruffles her daughter's hair and gets up, sidestepping Chris as he reappears in the living room, a fruit pop in his hands.

"Can I?" He's looking at his mother (because she knows Finn will say yes and go have one for himself.) Rachel nods and walks to the kitchen.

"Hey Avs, look what Chris made for you." He pulls Chris' drawing towards them and Ava takes it in her small fingers.

"Get well soon." She murmurs quietly. She looks at Chris and smiles, jumping from Finn's lap over to her brother and squeals happily. She demands he takes her to her mother and he hoists her up into his arms and walks awkwardly towards the kitchen.

Finn flings his legs onto the couch and closes his eyes. Taking care of a fidgety, feverish, clingy and cuddly three-year old was exhausting. He listens to her chatter away with her brother and mother in the kitchen and smiles, happy for this little moment in time.

…

"_HUDDY_! Get the hell up! Your wife's in labour!"

He's jerked awake at his Chief's yell and falls out of the cot in his scramble to get up. "Wha-!"

The ruddy-faced man chuckled heartily. "I suggest you get off the floor, out the door and on the way to the hospital. Knowing your wife, you're in for a lot of groveling. Sleeping through your phone call." The older man tsks then laughs at the look on Finn's face and strolls back towards his office.

"Shit! _Shit!_" He lunges to his feet and stumbles out the door as he tries to pulls a jacket on over his uniform. He ran through the office area and towards the parking lot, stumbling again as he collided into the wall with his hands trapped behind him.

Mike's outside doing push-ups when he rushes out and stops staring at him. "Finn?"

He whips around, eyes wide. "The baby is Rachel. Ah, I mean, labour is… _fuck!_"

Mike figures out he's trying to say that Rachel's in labour. "Want me to drive?" He hops up and grabs his jacket from the chair beside him and jogs over to Finn. The other man is frozen where he stands and can't answer, jacket askew on his broad shoulders. Mike laughs to himself and helps his friend put his jacket on properly then leads him towards his truck, reaching into the jacket pocket for the keys he knows Finn keeps there.

Finn still has this scared look on his face as Mike drives to the hospital but the second he pulls up at the emergency doors he throws a hasty thank you over his shoulder and rushes to the maternity ward, skidding down the hallway and coming to a stop where Burt and Hiram are leaning against a wall.

He opens his mouth to question them and his brother runs from the room, his hand over his heart as he sees Finn.

"I love Rachel like a sister but there are some things you can never unsee."

Finn doesn't stop to ask questions and just rushes into the room where his wife is spread-eagled and screaming (very loudly) at the top of her voice. His mother has a cloth over her forehead and one of Rachel's hand in hers and the second his wife sees him her screams morph into tears.

Out of breath, he takes three long strides and grasps her other hand in his, knees almost buckling under the pain as she squeezes.

"Baby, it hurts." She whimpers. He kisses her forehead and tries to whisper soothing words to her and if possible, she grips his hand tighter.

"Nice of you to join us Daddy dearest. We need her to start pushing. On my count." The doctor commands.

Keeping his lips against her forehead seems to work magic, because pretty soon she's screaming through the pain and then the doctor is putting a pink, squirmy, loud baby boy covered in gunk on top of Rachel's chest. Her mother-in-law kisses her knuckles as they whisk the newborn away to clean up, still screaming loudly at the top of his powerful lungs.

"He sure is a powerhouse." Carole jokes. Finn grins at his mother and kisses Rachel's cheek, nose, forehead and presses his lips softly to hers.

"Thank you, Rach. You did marvellously, baby. He's gorgeous. I love you so much."

"That. Was hard." Rachel sighs. She giggles and grips her husband's hand, smiling when he presses his lips to her hand. "We did it."

One of the nurses comes over pushing a small cot and Carole sniffs, presses her fingers to her lips and dabs at her tears. "I'll go tell everyone else. Congrats you two." She leans over and kisses Finn's forehead and Rachel's cheek and hurries out sobbing.

It's just them now, him, Rachel and this beautiful little person they created, ten perfect toes and fingers, yawning widely as he wraps them around his little fist.

"He's beautiful." He murmurs, running his finger over the baby's head. "His skin is so soft."

"Want to hold him?" Rachel asks, smiling at him.

"What?" He squeaks. He steps back, frowning. The baby is small. In Rachel's arms he looks like a doll, breakable.

As if she can read his mind, Rachel snorted and sat up, holding the baby out. "You won't drop him, Finn. He's your son."

"But he's so tiny."

"So am I."

"I'll never break you, Rachel. I – oh."

She smiles at him again, holding her arms out with their son sleeping. Hesitantly, he reaches out, setting his hands how she tells him to, holding his breath when she rests the baby into the cradle of his arms. He doesn't move, and the baby just wiggles, trying to get comfortable, little fists waving in the air. Finn's heart breaks in tiny little pieces and then reforms in an image of Rachel and the little boy in his arms. His face feels wet.

"What're we gonna call him Rach?" his voice is quiet, he doen't want to wake the lil man sleeping in his arms.

Rachel is quiet, and when he looks over she's crying. He freezes and walks back quickly to her side. "Baby, what's wrong?"

She shakes her head and smiles. "Nothing, I just love you. A lot."

His cheeks colour and he looks back down at the baby.

"We need a name." He repeats.

"After your father."

He looks at her and his smile spreads slowly.

"Chris."

"Chris." He echoes.

Chris stretches a fist out and puckers his mouth in a yawn. Finn chuckles. "I think he likes it."

He puts the baby beside Rachel on the bed and then folds his huge frame onto the mattress so Chris is laying between them. Rachel reaches over and grabs his hand, entwining their fingers on his chest.

"Thank you." He says, looking over at her. She nods, yawns and folds her hand under her cheek, gazing down at the baby between them.

"You're welcome sweetie. You can give birth to the next one." She grins and then laughs. They fall asleep together to the sound of their baby's quiet breathing between them.

...

He shakes his head to clear the dizziness, his eyes going wide when he sees Rachel standing down the aisle from him; she looks breath-taking in her wedding dress. His mouth falls open in awe and hears the silent laughter of the people around him.

"Close your mouth, Finn!" his brother hisses from behind him and he snaps it shut as he stares at the woman floating down the aisle, her fathers on either side of her. He's grinning from ear to ear when she stops in front of him, shakes her fathers hands and turns back to her.

He wants to kiss her, he almost does but Kurt is holding on to the back of his tuxedo. "No, you dolt! Wait until you have permission from the rabbi!" The laughter is louder now but Rachel's cheeks are an adorable rosy blush and he silently rushes the man officiating their wedding to get to that part.

He sings his vows (Kurt's idea) and has to use his thumb to brush away tears from Rachel's eyes (Tina glares at him and mutters something about her mascara). Tina has to reach out a hand to tug her back when _she_ almost kisses him when he finishes the song. Again the people watching them laughs, he's glad they're entertained.

_We were always sleeping  
On the first thing we've start  
Dreaming dreams of love  
Wondering where you are  
How blessed I am  
That I've found you  
Now that you're here  
I'm ready to say "I do"_

But the minute the rabbi tells him to give her the ring, his hand is steady as he slips the band his father had given his mother on their day. Kurt hands over the glass thing they'd bought at this store when they roadtripped to Chicago, mashing it under his foot. Rachel's laugh is loud and happy when he does.

"You may _finally_ kiss your bride."

He crushes her to his chest and touches his lips to hers.

"I love you." They say it at the same time (by accident) and then he kisses her harder, bending her back and plunging his tongue into her sweet mouth as their audience hoots and hollers and catcalls. He ignores whatever smart alecky remark he knows Kurt just uttered and kisses her quickly twice more before setting her back on her feet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr and Mrs. Finn Hudson."

Finn kisses Rachel's cheek as they walk down the aisle, hand in hand and he's pretty sure there's no other day that can top this moment right now.

He glances down at the radiant woman in his arms as they dance (Kurt's idea for dance classes) for the first time as husband and wife, the jukebox in the corner (his idea) bleeding Journey's _Faithfully_ as he moved her around the dance floor.

"I'm a lucky man." He says.

"Oh?" She looks up at him, resting her chin on his chest. "How so?"

"Well, I'm thinking if I hadn't broken my leg sophomore year, I wouldn't have lost my football scholarship and I wouldn't have changed programmes and I wouldn't have ended up with tutoring sessions with you in the library."

She snorts daintily and shakes her head into his chest. "Lucky you."

He always had a way with words.

They fall asleep in a tangle of sweaty bodies with his hands in her hair and her mouth on his chest, those white satin shoes Kurt picked out still on her feet. It's just a powernap though. Really.

…

The coldness of the beer hitting his face jerks him awake. He opens his eyes and glares at Puck as he crosses the floor to open the door. Rachel stands on the other side glaring at her phone. Puck steps aside and lets her walk in, wagging his eyebrows at Finn.

"Babe? What's the matter?"

She shoves a container into his hands and his mouth waters at the smell of fresh-baked butter cookies.

"I'm contemplating either killing Kurt or Quinn. Who would you miss the least?" She glares at them, eyes flitting between him and Puck.

"Quinn."

"Kurt."

Finn and Puck glare at each other.

"Why do you want to kill them?"

"Because they tell me earlier that we're all going out clubbing. Then they take away all my clothes and leave just this dress for me to wear."

He just realizes she's still wearing her bright red jacket over her clothes and when she pries the sides open, he punches Puck in the shoulder for taking too long to look away and hops over to her with one step to pull the labels of her jacket closed. And tells his body to calm down.

"Who bought this dress?" he squeaks out.

She gives him a strange look. "Kurt paid for it but Quinn chose it."

"Kill them both."

"Thank them both."

He punches Puck in the shoulder again. Because.

Rachel huffs and kisses him quickly and then points a finger at him. "Study. Don't sit here with Noah all night drinking beer and playing games. I _will_ check your test results and I will tell the professor to fail you if you slack off."

"You wouldn't."

She opens her jacket again and Puck averts his eyes quickly.

"Wanna bet?"

He kisses her sweetly and grabs his textbook as soon as she's out the door. They're going out to celebrate her first lead role in her workshop, a girl's night with Quinn, Tina and Santana. Kurt's their honorary gay. He never had a problem with her going out with her friends before, but looking like she did right now was cause for worry.

He snickers when Puck shows him a picture of what Quinn was wearing for their night out, laughing as his friend spews expletives at the picture on the screen. But then Artie rolls in with a look of absolute horror mixed with wanton desire, holding his phone out like it burned him.

He wasn't too worried, but Artie and Puck looked like they wanted to stalk Girl's Night Out. Their matching expressions were hilarious.

…

He wakes up to the feel of her body beside his. They'd fallen asleep before the movie was even through but he was comfortable on her bed. Relaxed beside her. She stirs in his arms and presses herself closer into him. Soft, pliant, ladylike and smooth under his palms.

They'd been friends since sophomore year, and now dating for about six weeks and honestly, if she'd make him wait six years, he would. He likes spending time with her, complications and idiosyncrasies and all. She was too much for him, intense and free, confident and sometimes strangely shy, determined, stubborn, but real. There was no pretense with her; she spoke what was on her mind and how she felt or just bursting into song randomly. Her voice always soothed him, kept him grounded. Or maybe it was just her. And even with his accident, losing his scholarship, she poked him in the side and just shrugged.

"We'll figure it out together, brah."

He loves her positivity.

She moves against him again. He tries to stretch his knee and frowns at the barely there ache in his leg. He walks fine, but football is done.

He can't be depressed, in a sport like football, accidents happen. He was just glad he was eligible for other scholarships after his accident. He was healing, one hurt at a time, one day at a time and the library became his escape. Time after time. She was there, always there, with a comforting word or a touch and her tutoring sessions became unnecessary, but her friendship and support was unparalleled. He was just glad she stuck by him.

Rachel stirs beside him, her body stretched alongside his and she turns to face him, blinking sleepily.

"Hi."

She smiles and hides her face into his neck, her small hands wrapped around his waist. Then he feels her mouth on his skin and her hands creeping under his shirt. Soon, he shifts her atop him, his hands hot over her back, her lips sliding against his, tongues dancing.

"Rach?"

"Yes." She breathes into the dark and puts his hand on her breast. He kisses her harder, stealing her breath, hands hot on the skin at her waist while her body pushes down onto his hardness.

Their clothes disappear amidst a lot of sighs and wet kissing. Her lips are bruised and swollen when his body slid into hers and she wraps her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as he rocks into her. Too soon she's whimpering his name and clutching at his shoulders as her body pulses around him.

"Finn."

His name sounds like heaven on her lips as she arches her chest up into him. As she comes down, she presses soft kisses to his jaw and shoulders and when he settles beside her, curving his body around hers in the darkness, she hums happily.

He sees this as his future for every night for the rest of his life.

…

He didn't plan it. Honest. It just happened. And he wasn't complaining.

Some of the guys from their dorm had a games night and he'd invited Rachel and Artie had invited her friend Tina. It was just board games and like Taboo and Pictionary and Rachel was an ace at each of them. She and this Latina girl from another dorm, Santana, teamed up and each team to go up against them lost. They were crowned with bags of pretzels and glo-sticks.

"Uh, Finn. Can you keep Rachel occupied for a while?" Artie rolled his wheels over Puck's toes and got closer.

Tina sat opposite him and Puck, watching as Artie talked to them. She winks at Artie and he and Puck had to wait until she was distracted to high-five their friend.

Somehow time slips away from him and Rachel and Tina is long gone with a group of girls from their dorm and just sends her a text. There are still a lot of people still milling around but when he asks if she wants to go, she's hesitant, but nods yes. By the time they walk out from under the awning and towards the corridor leading to her dorm it was drizzling. He picks her up and runs quickly through the rain, dropping her onto the top step outside her building. She giggles and smooths her skirt out, then shakes her hair, splashing rain water on him.

He blinks and wipes his face with his hand, looks at her and shakes the water from _his_ hair at her. Her giggles change to loud later and when she pushes him away, she sort of slides into his body instead.

She looks up at him with water dripping from her lashes, mouth partly open as she stares at him. The brown of her eyes gets considerably darker and he's very much aware of how close she is. All he has to do is turn his head to the side and fit it neatly over hers.

She moves before he can though, pressing her lips to his quickly before stepping back. She blinks slowly up at him and when he smiles at her she kisses him again.

"Can I call you tomorrow?"

She nods shyly and looks towards the door behind her, its past midnight.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

He nods, kisses her quickly and she steps back, then leans forward, kissing him under his jaw then she steps back again and darts inside the glass doors, waving at him before hurrying towards the stairs.

He takes his time going back to his dorm. And when he gets in Puck and Sam start whistling pointing at his chin, his fingers wipe away lipstick. He flips them off and strolls to his room. Artie's still in his chair, fingers tapping away at his phone.

"Dude."

"Huh?" Artie looks up, surprised.

"You're still in your chair."

"Tina." He says as his phone beeps.

"Tina?" Finn asks, his mouth stretching into a smile.

Artie blushes, his cheeks and the tip of his ears turning crimson. Finn bellows in laughter and walks out to the bathroom.

When they settle down to sleep, Artie is still grinning like a Cheshire cat. He's sure his own dream can rival Artie's. If they ever discussed them. (Not.)

…

He needs to get going for his last class even though he'd really like to go home and sleep for a week. But this conversation with Artie's friend is interesting. It makes no sense, but she's actually passionate as she speaks, trying to convince them that her point is not moot. He begs to disagree. And he does, way past time for the class he shares with Artie who looks like he's at a tennis match, head switching from one person to the next in amazement.

She's intriguing, this one. He literally just ran into her on the way to class, well Artie accidentally did, and somehow his mention of their philosophy class prompted an idea from her. She loved to talk it seemed, and surprisingly, he was willing to listen.

"How about you call me, and we can figure out who's right?" She pulls a pen from her hair, the thick, brunette strands tumbling over her shoulders, the smell of strawberries flowing on the breeze as she moves.

She grabs his palm and scribbles her name and number – her hand look so tiny compared to his – in his palm.

"Lose that and it sucks for you." She looks up at him and raises an eyebrow.

"Never." He grins.

Rachel Berry chuckles and nods, gives them a small wave and walks off.

He looks down at his hand again, burning the numbers into his mind, determined not to forget them or her. He looks over at Artie, who's staring after Rachel with his eyebrows raised.

"What?"

"Rachel Berry?"

Finn shrugs.

"You lucky bastard. Just give me five minutes with that woman."

He chuckles and shoves Artie playfully, taking the handles of his chair and wheeling them towards the cafeteria. "Eyes elsewhere brah."

"Dude, have you ever heard her sing? The woman's like an angel. Sent here to torment us mortal men with a sinfully beautiful voice and legs-,"

"Artie." He interrupts.

"Finn. I envy you. And not because you can walk."

He keys her number into his phone when he's lying in his bed later that night, Artie snoring loudly in his bed across the room. He types it in just the way she wrote it, putting an asterisk for the star beside her last name.

How could he forget her? It was impossible to. Everything about her was remarkable and he can admit now that their very lengthy discussion was over something nonsensical and childish but her eyes were bright and sparkling as they argued, her voice washing over him and settling in the space where his heart should be.

He types a quick text and chuckles as he sends it. It's silly, but he imagines her giggling and smiling wide on her end of their conversation and sure enough, she responds with the same spiel she's be on since he ran into her earlier with Artie.

_No! The chicken came first Finn. No egg, no chicken! –_ Rachel Berry*

He goes to sleep with her smile on his mind.

…

He tries to open his eyes but his head feels heavy. He reaches his hand up and moans when his fingers press against bandages there.

"Finn?"

He tries to open his eyes again, blinking several times before he does, turning towards the soft voice. Big brown eyes glistening with wetness stare back at him. His eyes close briefly before he opens them again.

"Finn."

"I know your face." His voice is scratchy and hoarse and he coughs when he tries to speak again.

She fumbles with something beside his hand on the bed and then grips his hand between hers, small and shaking as she presses wet kisses to his knuckles, tears wetting her face.

More peoples rush into his room, people in white coats or blue scrubs try and pull her away from him, and what little strength he has doesn't work to keep her near him. The doctor shines a light in his eyes, gripping his chin tight and he blinks against the glare, catching a glimpse of the brown-eyed beauty with her hands over her mouth and a group people standing behind her at the door.

A tall man in a baseball cap, mouth grim and eyes wet with a messy-haired sleeping boy in his arms. He's tall, legs dangling almost to the man's knees, but the man keeps a firm grip on him. There's a woman pressed into his side, she has eyes like his, like Finn's, although they're wet and swollen and she too has a sleeping child in her arms, a little girl with brown ponytails, a blue blanket firmly wrapped between her fingers.

Behind them, a petite Asian woman cries softly into a svelte man's blue sweater. He has his hands wrapped around her shoulders, glasz eyes staring back at him, silent tears slipping down his cheeks. Beside them a taller man stands with his hands crossed across his chest, eyes hard as he glares at the people bustling about the room.

Rachel.

Burt. Chris. Mom. Ava. Tina. Kurt. Puck.

Rachel.

His eyes flit back to her. Rachel. She sees him looking at her and stumbles back to his side, pushing away the nurse standing there.

"Rachel." His voice is stronger now and she grabs his hand again, pressing her face into his palm. His other hand is tightly wrapped in a sling across his chest, so he can't grab her and hug her like he wants to.

The doctor starts murmuring quiet words to her and she nods, never breaking his gaze. He touches his shoulder and walks from the room, stopping to talk to his Mom and Burt briefly. Rachel touches his face again, rubbing her thumb against his jaw.

"I love you." Because she needs to hear it, needs to understand. She smiles wetly and turns her mouth into his hand and kissing it.

"I love you too."

He knows that, isn't that why he's still here? His eyes feel heavy again but he fights it, he needs to tell her.

"Thank you."

Her brows crinkle in confusion. "What, baby?"

"Thank you." He repeats. "For bringing me back."

He can't keep his eyes open for longer but he can hear the doctor saying something about needing to rest. He knows when his mother comes to his other side, pressing her lips to his forehead.

"I love you, baby."

He can't open his eyes to look at her, but he nods, he loves her too.

One by one he knows they come to his side, and Rachel has both her hands wrapped around his. He's slipping into sleep when he feels her lips, soft against his and he smiles. He lets sleep finally claim him, his hand warm in hers, physically and emotionally tethered.

...

_For our first kiss, on next week  
For when we make love, in six weeks  
For the ring you wore proudly three months from now  
For when you said "I do" next March  
And for those beautiful children of ours  
Yes, I know it might sound strange 'cause we just met  
But I thank you in advance_

* * *

**A/N: I fell asleep with this song playing in my head and woke up and immediately found the music video and well, this happened. Firefighter!Finn is such a guilty pleasure of mine, and will always be! Reviews?**

**Songs are **_**You For Me**_** by Johnny Gill; **_**Thank You in Advance **_**by Boys II Men**


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